Alpine Space projects have achieved their first results and they show it! This spring you can learn about their achievements in major European events and conferences: from the TEN-T days with achievements on sustainable transport in the Alps to the Forum Alpinum where results for integrated river basin management will be introduced and discussed. These are examples of how transnational cooperation is successful in solving issues that know no borders, as detailed in the brochure Ten things to know about transnational cooperation (see below).

Happy reading and don't hesitate to go and meet the Alpine Space project partners in this spring's events!

The JS team

TEN-T days: AlpInnoCT, e-MOTICON and iMONITRAF! make the difference for sustainable transport

“Interreg makes the difference” is what the Alpine Space programme and nine other Interreg programmes will show by representing successful projects at a common stand at the TEN-T days event taking place in Ljubljana from 25 to 27 April 2018. The stand will feature three Alpine Space projects AlpInnoCT, e-MOTICON and iMONITRAF!

AlpInnoCT is a project aiming at offering joint solutions to strengthen ecological transport and to establish more efficient freight transport corridors in order to improve and innovate the organization of transports in the Alpine area.

The project e-MOTICON addresses the special planning dimension linked to the development of electric mobility. Its objective is to support public administrations transnationally in the use of innovative resources, which offer a valid solution to enhance sustainable mobility and to contribute to CO2 reduction.

iMONITRAF! (2007-2013), is an initiative which helped to establish common policy measures to make transport more sustainable in the Alpine region. In 2013, the regions involved in iMONITRAF! developed a common structure to support the implementation of the coordinated transport strategy. In 2016, the regions focused their work on gaining policy support for the harmonisation of road tolls along and between the transport corridors.

Breaking down the barriers between local action and European policies is the title of the input that CESBA_Alps will provide - together with the European Network for Rural Energy and the Avià municipality - at the policy conference of the EU sustainable energy week (04-08 June 2018).

The CESBA Alps project manager will present the successful ingredients of the CESBA approach, combining top down and bottom up approaches and putting the accent on the stakeholders’ involvement. The results will also be put in perspective with the policies framework, feeding the discussion on the role of European policies for successful and efficient local action.

The project SPARE will organise a workshop on integrated river ecosystem management (IREM) at the Forum Alpinum which will take place in Breitenwang (Austria) on 04 to 06 June 2018. This workshop will be part of the project activities aimed at testing and validating the project's online platform on IREM. The results of past Alpine Space projects will also be presented at the occasion of this workshop.

In addition, the Alpine Space programme will introduce its upcoming activities in the plenary session with the contribution: “Transnational cooperation – an opportunity and need to address Alpine (water) challenges”.

The European Commission selected three Alpine Space projects as highlights for the European year of cultural heritage 2018. While being active in different sectors, such as food, youth and creative industries, all the three projects are aimed at protecting and valorising the cultural heritage through transnational cooperation initiatives.

The AlpFoodwayproject focuses on the creation of a sustainable development model for peripheral mountain areas based on the preservation/valorisation of Alpine cultural food heritage and on the adoption of innovative marketing and governance tools.

YourAlpsis a project aimed at reconciling young people with the Alps through a variety of activities (exchanges, training, workshops ect.) with the goal of giving structure to the field of mountain oriented education and incorporating the values and knowledge of mountains and the Alps.

The CCAlps project has created a European network of Creative and Cultural Industries (CCIs) and hubs (structures favouring the start-up and development of CCIs) in order to provide a platform for facilitating cross-border collaboration between CCIs, universities, enterprises and other institutions.

10 Things to Know About Transnational Cooperationis a publication aimed at presenting the results of the activities of the Interreg transnational cooperation programmes, within the framework of the European Cohesion Policy. The document exposes the outcomes achieved by the programmes which, while bringing together regions and cities located in different countries, base their success on geographic and cultural similarities that provide an excellent base for cooperation. The brochure features the Alpine Space project iMonitraf!.

The first results of the programme evaluation are now available on the programme website. This evaluation was aimed at assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of programme procedures, and whether they are fit for supporting the preparation, submission and selection of projects.

We thank all respondents for their imput and comments. They contribute to making our programme better!

The kick-off event of the Tyrolean presidency took place in Innsbruck on February 7th 2018. In the framework of the implementation of the European Strategy for the Alpine region (EUSALP), the event was aimed at presenting the new Tyrolean Presidency, whose activities will be focused on the concepts of mobility and connectivity.

The main points that will be developed include dual training, the transfer of goods and passenger traffic from road to rail, cross-border passenger information, the sustainable and balanced use of Alpine resources, natural hazard management and the energy sector.

During the event, the new presidencies were also announced: the year 2019 will see the Italian presidency of the Lombardy region and will be followed in 2020 by France.